Derek Powers
}} Derek Powers, commonly referred to as Derek or Mr. Powers by strangers, is one of the main characters of the series. He is the boyfriend of Crystal. He is the current state champion of Godzilla City, and aims to become the world's greatest player of Duel Monsters. Derek is largely considered a protagonist, as his motives are usually righteous, but he does sometimes show some arrogance and pride issues. Among one of the recurring themes is Derek being forced to duel alongside others or accept help and advice from others, despite being clear about wanting to only rely on himself when it comes to duels. Design Appearance in the outfit he wears in the Battle City arc from front, side, and rear views and alongside views of his head from different angles.]] Derek's character design was overseen by Gogeta the Barbarian. His usual outfit consists of a red and black short-sleeved shirt, black tactical pants, and a black belt with a deck holder attached to it. He carries useful tools such as a pocket knife and flashlight in his extra pockets. He often wears a KaibaCorp Duel Disk on his right arm. Personality In the original Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kaiba omits honorifics and has a "rude" pattern of speech. Kaiba uses the word "ore" to mean "I" instead of the usual boku; ore is a boastful way to say "I" in Japanese. Kaiba usually calls Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler) names, such as "bonkotsu" (mediocre), "make-inu" (pathetic dog, loser), "uma no hone" (a nobody), and "zako" (insignificant person, weakling). This name calling was carried over to the dub. Second series anime biography History Refocusing KaibaCorp After taking control of KaibaCorp, Seto shifted its economic interest from manufacturing weapons of mass destruction to game-oriented equipment. Kaiba didn't give The Big Five the respect or power they had been expecting when they made the deal to overthrow Gozaburo. He refused to provide finance to Crump to build his dream penguin theme park. He told Nezbitt to show his loyality by destroying the military factory on Alcatraz. Once that was done, Kaiba closed the military department and proceeded to build the Duel Tower in its place. He demoted Nezbitt to dispatching material for building the tower. Kaiba started building an amusement park for orphaned and underprivileged children called Kaiba Land. At the start of the series, only one Kaiba Land had been built, in Domino (in the dub, none of the parks had been built, and Kaiba Land was touted as the KaibaCorp headquarters). Kaiba began work on creating holographic technology to heighten the experience of playing Duel Monsters. and makes a partnership with Pegasus.]] Maximillion Pegasus invited Kaiba as his special guest to the Intercontinental Duel Monsters Tournament in New York City. Kaiba witnesses Pegasus face Bandit Keith in the finals. At the Duel, Pegasus simply sat in front of Keith for a few seconds, then wrote down some instructions on a piece of paper, which he gave to a beginner, Sam, from the audience to use against Keith. While Sam Dueled Keith, Pegasus sat with Kaiba. He hoped Kaiba was "enjoying the tournament so far, even though it must seem so crude to him, unlike the holographic Dueling stations KaibaCorp is developing." Kaiba met with Pegasus to demonstrate a miniature Dueling Arena to a group of businessmen. Zigfried von Schroeder then entered the room disgusted, as he had developed something similar and believed Kaiba's idea belonged to him. Kaiba inferred that Pegasus must have read Keith's mind in the Duel, so later he began making Duel Disks to combat Pegasus' mind reading strategy. With Duel Disks, players would be able to stand further apart and avoid face-to-face contact, which he hoped would be enough to avoid having his mind read. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Kingdom Kaiba became the Duel Monsters World Champion and came into possession of three of the four "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards. ".]] At school, Kaiba overheard Yugi Muto talking about a rare card his grandfather, Solomon Muto has. Suspecting it might be the 4th "Blue-Eyes", Kaiba visited Solomon's shop and saw the card. He tried to trade for the card and buy it, but Solomon refused, since the card is of high sentimental value to him. Still determined and sickened by Solomon's attitude, Kaiba kidnapped him and challenged him to a Duel. Kaiba defeated Solomon and overwhelmed him with the holographic technology used in the Duel. As a prize, he took Solomon's "Blue-Eyes". He then called Yugi over to collect his grandfather. Shortly after Yugi arrived, Kaiba tore-up the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card in front of him and his friends. Outraged, Yugi Dueled Kaiba as Yami Yugi. Yami is put in a tight place after Kaiba Summons all 3 "Blue-Eyes White Dragons", but managed to win by Summoning "Exodia". After winning, Yami inflicted a Mind Crush on Kaiba dispelling his evil half. In the Japanese anime, the Mind Crush simply destroyed the evil in Kaiba so he can start over. After his defeat, Kaiba dropped out of playing Duel Monsters as a result of being confused about how power lost to heart and began rebuilding himself. Maximillion Pegasus formed an alliance with The Big Five to try to take-over KaibaCorp. They sent two men to Kaiba's office to capture him. Kaiba refused to cooperate, so the henchmen prepared to open fire. However, Kaiba knocked them back with a chair and deflected their gunshots with his briefcase. He jumped out the window of his office, leading them to believe he died. (In the dub, the guns are removed and Kaiba jumped out after refusing to cooperate.) However Kaiba clung onto the side of the cliff and climbed to his safety. In the meantime his Deck was stolen and Mokuba was kidnapped. Later Kaiba snuck back into his mansion through a hidden passageway. He entered a hidden computer lab, where he got an update on what Pegasus had done to KaibaCorp. He learned that Mokuba was held prisoner on the Duelist Kingdom island and Pegasus will be given shares of KaibaCorp once Yugi is defeated in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Kaiba hacked into Pegasus' computer system and found Yugi was Dueling an imposter Seto Kaiba, who even had the real Kaiba's Deck. Kaiba infected a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" Summoned by the imposter with a virus, weakening it and consequently preventing Yugi from losing the Duel. Kaiba flew to the Duelist Kingdom to confront Pegasus. He brought his Duel Disks with him to combat Pegasus' mind reading. As soon as he arrived on the island, he bumped into Yugi and his friends. Yugi returned Kaiba's Deck to him and suggested that they stick together as they are all going to Pegasus' castle, but Kaiba declined. Joey Wheeler, who was disgusted by Kaiba's attitude, confronted him, and the two wound-up Dueling. Kaiba used the Duel as a chance to test his Duel Disks. Joey foolishly attacked Kaiba's monsters with a barrage of weaker ones, until he Summoned his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", which Kaiba defeated with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and took out the remainder of Joey's Life Points. Kaiba cruelly mocked Joey and called him a loser. Before leaving, he told the group about Pegasus' Duel with Keith, so Yugi and Joey know what they are up against. gun. (This scene was removed in the dub)]] The next day, Kemo found Kaiba on the island and pointed a gun to his head. However Kaiba jammed the gun with a "Gyakutenno Megami" card. Kaiba pulled the gun from Kemo, injuring his hand. (This scene is removed from the dub.) Kemo lunged at Kaiba, but Kaiba subdued him and ordered him to take them to Mokuba. Kemo took Kaiba to Pegasus' dungeons, but triggered a security alarm, calling for backup. Pegasus, who had already known this would happen insisted they turn off the alarm and goes to the dungeons to meet Kaiba himself. Kaiba hid on one of the walls and listened-in on a group of Pegasus' guards, who had been unable to find him. The guards decided to go to Mokuba's cell, believing Kaiba will show up there soon. Kaiba leaped down and followed them. Once they arrived at the cell, Kaiba sneaked-up on them and knocked them out. Kaiba was briefly reunited with Mokuba, but was confronted by Pegasus before he could release him. Pegasus used the Millennium Eye to strip Mokuba of his soul, which he trapped in a "Soul Prison" card. Pegasus said that Kaiba must defeat him in a Duel if he wished to free Mokuba. Kaiba was willing to Duel on the spot, but Pegasus refused telling Kaiba that he must defeat Yugi in a Duel, before he can do that. Kaiba confronted Yugi outside the castle and imposed a Duel. Initially Yugi refuses, but he switched to Yami Yugi and accepted. During the Duel, Kaiba Summoned "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", causing problems for Yami, but Yami fused it with "Mammoth Graveyard", causing it to decay and lose ATK each turn. Kaiba sees Mokuba, begging Seto to help him. A younger version of Seto tries to run to Mokuba's aid but unfortunately, is to late. Kaiba refuses to lose his only chance at saving his brother. As Yami was about to win, Kaiba stood-up on the edge of the castle, such that if Yami made another attack, he would fall to his death. Although Yami tried to attack, Yugi took-over and called it off. Kaiba won on the next turn, taking five of Yugi's Star Chips. Combined with the five Pegasus gave him earlier, Kaiba had enough to enter the castle and face Pegasus. Kaiba got ready to Duel Pegasus. He insisted on using the Duel Disks, but Pegasus wasn't too keen. Pegasus accepted under the condition, that Mokuba who is stripped of his soul, held the Duel Disk for him. Kaiba refused to face his brother in such a way and agreed to Duel without the Disks. Pegasus defeated Kaiba while using his Millennium Eye. Kaiba privately asked Mokuba to forgive him as Pegasus trapped his soul in another "Soul Prison" card. When Yugi defeated Pegasus, as promised Pegasus freed the souls of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, along with Solomon Muto. Kaiba thanked Yugi for saving Mokuba and insisted that they should have a fair Duel someday to determine who is the better Duelist. He gave Yugi and his friends a lift home from the island afterwards. Deck Derek's best known cards are his Virus cards, "Crush Card Virus" and "Virus Cannon", although he doesn't use them all that often. These cards were gifted to him from Crystal after he won his first state championship. The cards are central to his deck throughout the series. He relies on a banish strategy to disarm the opponent before overwhelming them with high-powered monsters. One of his most devastating strategies is to activate "Crush Card" and "Virus Cannon" while "Macro Cosmos" is in play, severely crippling an opponent's deck; thereafter, he'll summon "Gren Maju Da Eiza" or one of the Helios monsters, whose attack power depends on how many cards are currently banished. References Category:Yu-Gi-Oh! characters Category:Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters